Sunday, July 31, 2011

Let me introduce myself -- My name is nobody! I am proud of my name because there is nobody to be concerned. What you are about to read might not make sense to you, but it is all true as far as what we call ‘real’ is true. You will find as I did that nonfiction is often fiction covered up to look nonfiction, but in truth it is all made up. Can you tell what is true from what is false? I see people suffering from nightmares or rage and believe it to be true but yet is it except in their mind?

The funny thing about death, which is our greatest fear, is that we take it seriously as if we are alive in some world we created. Imagine the average person going to work 9 to 5 and on the way to work reads the newspaper about the sordid news of the day as if it was real. By the time he starts ‘work, he is already living in his dream believing it to be real and acts accordingly. He unconsciously carries himself throughout the day doing his ‘thing’ and then goes home and watches TV for some relaxation. What was real about that day? In fact, what is real in this world, period? This sounds as if I am being cynical or skeptical, but it is the other way around. I am real because I know it is all a dream. You see, what we take to be real, isn’t. What we take to be unreal such as nothingness, is the only real ‘thing’ there is. Are you with me so far? Well, if you are, are you making sense of what I am saying. As far as I am concerned I am making sense simply because nothing I experience is real and that, paradoxically, is my freedom. Freedom makes great sense to me. That is, freedom from fear, anxiety, self-concern. “Freedom?!!” you gasp, “how can seeing the world as a dream be freedom? Oh my friend, can’t you see that when we take anything to be real it becomes our cross, our pain and our hell? Did you ever notice how all the things that brought pain it was because you made it real? For example, people worry and they believe in their worry and that’s why they worry – got it? If they knew it wasn’t real, where’s the worry? Many people get up in the morning feeling the dread of facing the day and yet what they are fearing is the dream made real. You can see that, can’t you? My freedom emerged when I saw the truth and that is – everything is a dream, an illusion and nothing is serious! The one who is watching the dream is not the dream, just like watching change happens to be the changeless that is watching. We dream at night but when we get up we continue the dream, however, we see it as reality and that becomes our cross, our horrendous pain.

So what is real then? Here is the paradox my friend – nothing is real! Did you hear that clearly? Did you understand it? Nothing is real. So, we can deduce that only the ‘nothing’ is real. How glorious, how liberating, and how explosive it all is. The ‘nothing’ that we fear also known as spirit or essence or source is the only ‘thing’ that is real. It had no beginning and it has no end and yet all seeming reality emerges from it. However, what you see and sense is merely the effect of the cause which is Nothingness. So many people fear nothingness but the moment it is embraced we call it ‘awakening.’ Do you see the kick in the pants? Why!!? You may ask? -- the answer is so simple and so obvious that it escapes the complicated mind. Let me ask you this? When were you the happiest? Wasn’t it when you were nothing such as not having any identity; not being this or that; not concerned about your body and personality; simply when you were absent to yourself – wasn’t that your highest moment of aliveness? Feel it right now! The first glimpse was many years ago during sexual orgasm and I felt ecstatic and yet there was no one having that orgasm but that momentary ‘fullness’ of absence of self. It is like the guy taking a free-fall from a plane before opening his parachute and enjoy that ‘kick’ of just being nothing swirling in space. It is that rush that momentarily takes your mind away from self-concern. It is this nothingness that is real simply because it is the only ‘thing’ that was never born and will not know death. After all, how can nothing be born or die? It was when I discovered this ‘nothing’ to be everything that I experienced my true aliveness and saw everything else as a dream. Now I see myself as nothing and it is wonder-FULL!

By now you have gathered that I am writing about nothing – there is no plot, no story, no structure and yet this nonsense from ‘nobody’ makes more ‘sense’ than the so-called real. There is a part in you that reads this with curiosity or intrique hoping to get some meaning, while at the same time you are getting the meaning hidden between the words. It is all a dream and its realization didn’t come suddenly but gradually through a period of observation of my own thinking processes. As a child I was often dreaming, as most children dream, however my problem was that I took the dream seriously and so I suffered. Many things happened in my life that brought suffering but in retrospect nothing happened for here I am…it was all a dream and still IS!! We like to pat ourselves on the back for being realists and even become skeptical, questioning and agreeing or disagreeing and enjoy the arguments…but it is all a dream of the mind! Nothing is real and that’s paradoxically is waking up from the dream while seemingly in the dream. Oh how we judge right and wrong, good or bad, should or shouldn’t wasting precious time when this ‘now’ is so enjoyable and exhilarating and filled with fantasy and dreams that are not real. The greatest joy is having illusions and seeing the illusion of it all and then you are truly free. Why do we enjoy the theatre or our dreams at night or movies and TV. Aren’t they all made up. The ‘real’ which is nothing is the most glorious adventure of them all. It is the greatest fear of the illusory ego that makes the world real, and yet when fully faced it is so immensely and absolutely wonder-full that it takes direct experience of nothing to see how enjoyable and ecstatic it is. How can you fear nothing? How can you worry when it is all a dream? How can you even experience stress or discomfort when it is all a play of consciousness? Did you know that happiness is nothingness? Did you know that love, true love, is not emotional but nothingness embracing nothingness as itself. There is no one to own or possess or even have a relationship with – there is only nothing with nothing making nothingness known as Oneness of IS!! Have you ever known of a marriage or relationship that was really happy? The only relationship tha works is when two nothings merge as Oneness. You cannot own another or make them your own. Our attempt alone brings misery and pain. Love is nothingness and that’s its beauty and unconditional nature. How we crave for peace. What is peace but nothingness known as a tranquil mind?When you see this clearly you’ll start playing like my cat does and purrs so loudly with true enjoyment. I pull his legs or arms and he purrs; I jump with him in my arms and he purrs; I swing him around and he purrs – why? -- simply because he knows it is all a play!

Our biggest concerns are about our body, self-image and identity – but truly now, let’s stop kidding ourselves, where the hell are these items? Aren’t they all a dream? Did you know that your identity is but a self-image. Did you know that self-image is just an image, imagination? Is it scary or liberating? I leave that up to you to consider.Come on now, see it for yourself. And if you fear nothingness then stop and see – how can you fear nothingness when there is nothing to fear? And that, my friend, is the absolute truth and it is all here-now itself called heaven. Believe it or not, it is the only Truth!! Buddha called it Nirvana. Jesus called it 'The Kingdom of God within' and said, "I am in the world but I am NOT of this world!"

Monday, July 25, 2011

If you are truly interested in knowing, beyond even the slightest doubt, a peace that has no conditions or limits, if you are truly interested in knowing a freedom that has absolutely no boundaries at all, if you are truly interested in coming to the end of all seeking, then please consider, very slowly and carefully, the following: (take as long as you need.)Awareness is everywhere and always.It is always here. It is always now.You are this NOW itself!

Someone asked me, ”If it is being which is doing everything because everything is being then isn't that total free-will but on a much deeper more encompassing level? Or am I right off track?? It doesn;t feel to me like free-will is a construct of the ego, it feels natural.”(His email was longer than the above stating that in his experience he has complete free-will.”)

Yes you are absolutely right. However, understand that ‘you’ himself just like Burt himself is a Oneness. In this seeming individual called Burt or ‘you’ there is no true choice or freedom because these individuals are conditioned concepts just like the waves of the ocean seem separate and individual and unique and yet they are the product and action of the ocean (Oneness). For 27 years I played teacher and even had my own TV show and wrote a book that sold well. Yet in the year 2000 I 'woke up' and realized that Burt was just another concept I created. Waking up is not an attainment nor an accomplishment but the beginning of seeing clearly -- yes my friend, just the beginning -- and this seeing is this -- there is only NOW eternally and you are THAT!! With "THAT" you have freedom, choice and complete control but it is not individual control. It is at this stage that one begins to understand what could never have been understood. It is this realization of Oneness (NOW) that we know how to laugh, how to enjoy, how to love, how to cry, how to be free. You are a human being, a duality creature made up of two opposing forces. These forces are totally opposite...the human is after "ADDITION" and the BEING is all about SUBTRACTION. Thus when all has been subtracted such as fear, guilt, suffering, ego and false ideas and beliefs, what will stand out is BEING that which has always been there before time itself. This is the real freedom, joy and happiness beyond imagination. Most people who strive towards awakening have no idea what it means. Awakening means there is no such thing as getting anywhere, getting anything or accomplishing anything but seeing that you are NOTHING. When you finally see that you are NOTHING (awakening) then you also see that you are everything. If you have understood this then I truly congratulate you my friend.

Perhaps the most difficult thing for most of us to understand is the simple, and if you examine it directly, most obvious fact that there is no such thing as a solid, separate, stable entity that I can call “myself.”Nouns (labels like teacher, writer, doctor, lawyer, man, woman, human being, body and so on), proper nouns (my name, your name, personal pronouns like ‘me’ ‘mine’ ‘myself’ and ‘my life.’ Often combined with mental images of your face and body at various ages, morphed together with various role models and anchored by muscular contraction and other physical, mental and emotional sensations such as self-defense, self-protection work collectively to create a fictitious life. It may be convincing on the surface, and there may be the security and comfort of habitual perception, but if you investigate carefully and directly, you will find nothing but unsubstantial memory and fantasy edited by a motive and attitude. Nowhere in any of that is there a real, verifiable “you” or “me.” This is what waking up means – it is seeing the truth for the first time and it is usually a shock and often results from a situation of suffering that has no ‘way out.’ Waking up to the Truth as it is, is no picnic. However, in seeing the truth, which is true, you are faced with NOTHING. You are nothing. But then something else happens – you see clearly you are everything because you are the NOW (Oneness) itself. You have had many changes of being a baby body, a child learning to walk and talk, a teenager who thinks he/she knows, a young adult, a mature body with accompanying personality, beliefs and ideas based on conditioning and finally seeing that it is ALL an illusion. So what happens faced with this predicament – you are the very BEING you have been chasing after all your life wanting to be special, different and to be ‘somebody’ and when finally woke up discovering your true essence you will see that it has all been an evolution towards subtraction and NOT addition. It is in this subtraction that you discover you are everything you ever really wanted – freedom, love, joy, peace and above all, Oneness (Now) itself.

The most fearful question is this initially, “If there is no separate me and no separate you, then what is left?” My dear everything is left. You look around: in the absence of mental and emotional editing, there is nothing but awareness and everything that arises in it. Everything that you can see and hear and smell and taste and FEEL and think and otherwise experience. There is nothing but this NOW, this whole, infinite, everything. Someone complains, “But this scares me!!” -- yes, and just imagine being without any fear whatever? Imagine that death is not possible? Imagine that misery, suffering and all bondage was your creation as it never existed? The self you thought you were was a deception, a habitual unconscious guilt filled with judgments, gossip, pettiness, cruelty, fear, self-centredness, loneliness, sorrow, worry, stress, anger and find all that subtracted from you. Then what is left is laughter, joy, freedom and a life that is aligned with God (Oneness).

After writing the above it occurred to me why the video #5 was so popular…http://youtu.be/nfWTmjWaIFA It is because the people who are awakening are seeing thatTruth is simple, obvious and liberating, it is subtracting and not adding and the way to that subtraction is through forgiveness. When the word, most powerful word for healing, is discovered to be ‘forgiveness’ then we understand what it really means – there is nothing to forgive – everything is divine and okay!!

The Course says: “All the vestiges of hell, the secret sins and hidden hates be gone through forgiveness. And all the loveliness which they concealed appear like lawns of Heaven to our sight, to lift us high above the thorny roads we travelled on before the Christ (Being) appeared.”

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

You say 'now' is perfect but all problems whether past, present or future all happen now. So what is so perfect about 'Now'?

You are confusing 'NOW' with the 'present time.' The present time is where everything happens whether recollection of a past hurt or the anxiety of a future condition. The 'NOW' itself is timeless. It is a Silence like the center of a bicycle wheel that supports the spokes of the wheel and its motion while the center remains still. In the fury of a storm upon the ocean surface lashing it about there is still the Silence of its depth. Similarly, within the present time of frenzied activity lies the quietness of the timeless NOW!

The 'NOW' is a stillness beyond time and space and within lie the two most powerful laws of human experience -- Self-recognition and Self-organization. The Awareness of Self-recognition helps us realize our Oneness since every human on earth knows that he/she exists as awareness itself. Yet, awareness does not belong to anyone. From this Self-recognition emerges Self-organization where the law of synchronicity plays its glorious part.

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

For many years I studied, meditated and even taught classes, appeared on own TV show and interviewed twice on CBC "Food for thought." Despite these years of reading and study and practice, it was in the year 2000 during a conflicted relationship that I woke up to the fact that there's nothing to learn or attain but to LISTEN in this eternal NOW moment. Once we realize this then all seeking stops and we become clear, free and at peace.

Friday, May 6, 2011

Why do we have to go through a journey with so much suffering when in Truth we are already in the image of God?

It is like climbing a ladder that reaches higher than the clouds. We wonder what it would be like to reach the top and find all the secrets of existence. We start climbing and seeing more as we climb. We reach the middle and panic at the great overwhelming grandeur and a part of us clings to the bottom while another part longs for the top. Finally we reach the top and realize that we haven't gone anywhere as the ladder was always here. We had gone from here to here but now we see it for the first time. As T.S. Eliot wrote, "We shall never cease from exploration, and at the end of all our exploring we shall arrive at where we started and know that place for the first time." This journey is a journey of discovery. Once we see beyond our linear brain to the holographic essence that we are, we shall also see that nothing happened, nothing was achieved, nothing was accomplished but have reached HOME finally. It is a glory that can't be even imagined.

Friday, April 8, 2011

You are a human being -- just as the human is a movement of seeking, striving, wanting, needing, yet it never arrives because what it is really seeking is itself, which is the Being. The 'Being' is a zero-point and it frightens the human part. Therefore, not understanding the dynamics that what we want we already are, we search for the tangibles instead of the zero-point that produced them. In other words, all Being is nothingness, meaning no-thingness, and is a zero-point. It is this zero-point which is pure potential from which everything has emerged.Our dualistic struggle between human and Being produces all the conflicts and sabotages and self-punishments that we experience until we realize that the human and Being can be experienced as ONE. It is this Oneness that is what we truly want and seek -- harmony, balance, peace, love, joy, meaning and fulfillment.Here is a video explaining the Four laws. Through them we understand the whole dynamic process of growth.

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Every morning I reply to numerous email questions from around the world. The subjects vary from esoteric, to personal, to relationships and to daily living.

What is the common dilemma everyone suffers from?Here are just some recent questions…Why do I feel as if I am doing something wrong most of the time?Why is the feeling of lack so tenacious?Why do I have this feeling of wanting to be right even if it makes me miserable?I know all about Truth being love and yet I keep choosing fear unconsciously?Why do I sabotage myself?Why do I feel as if I am not good enough?My childhood has been a reasonably happy one and yet I feel inadequate at times, why?…and many other similar ones. What seems to be the problem? Why is it so universal?Over 95% of the population have read, studied and practiced spiritual principles but they do not live from them in daily life, why?

The answer is simple – this knowledge has remained surface mental know-how but hasn’t reached the heart. It has been said that an awakened being is easy to spot. They do not talk about spirituality but simply emanate a quiet joy that has been awakened through inner heart-knowing. When teachings such as a Course in Miracles describe the teacher of God, it is described as a state of inner joy.

We are now witnessing a fast-shifting and changing consciousness, accelerating at a speed unknown in human history. Young people suffer anxieties from fear of the future and older people suffer from inadequate inner knowing and peace.

I have been asked about such a workshop many times and finally feel the strong feeling to conduct it. I am NOT a ‘teacher’ for what I will show you, you already know in your heart. I will simply act as a guide with simple tools and methods to unfold this inner knowing - not with spiritual words but with direct experiencing of the truth of you.

Can we find peace in a world we don’t understand? Definitely!!This peace is not something you are going to attain but a Source that is ever-waiting to release itself with the right attitude, open-heart and willingness to listen. This is something that you already are and it is a matter of re-cognizing it! It will be a clear seeing just as you know you exist!

If you want to know a little bit more about me, please copy and paste these links into your browser:http;//www.burtharding.comhttp://www.youtube.com/burtharding/

Also listen to this interview regarding my own experience:http://batgap.com/burt-harding/

The Workshop

This workshop will be my first class offering after a few years rest from public teaching. I am responding to the many requests for classes I have received from students around the world who follow my YouTube videos and email correspondences. My hope is that you will listen to your heart’s response to this opportunity to directly experience your Self.

The class will be held in my own home, which accommodates about 15 people. Since space is limited, please respond promptly to make us aware of your interest. Once your registration is confirmed, payment instructions will be sent.

There will be a one-hour break for lunch. You may either bring your lunch or go to one of many nearby cafés.

Testimonials

“When I happened upon Burt’s website 2 years ago I had no idea that it would change my life forever. Through Burt’s many emails and videos that he freely offers I came to see clearly the truth of who I am. Burt’s wisdom, compassion and unconditional love helped me to open my heart again to myself and others. Any questions I had Burt was always there with a quick reply and a heartfelt explanation. If further clarification was needed Burt readily was willing to explain again anything I wanted to know. It has been very easy to hear what Burt had to share whether in an email or in a video, due to his very gentle and loving spirit that touches your heart immediately. I am so very grateful to Burt for reminding me of the precious gift that I am, and as a result I am able to teach this to others. Burt has shown me how sacred love is and that when we allow, accept and just be, that miracles do happen.”~~ Karen from Peterborough ~~

“It is hard to describe the feelings that took over me when I listened to Burt’s warm, soft, loving and playful words. They have touched me so much, they caressed me in the most deeply buried and most painful places, in which I have been hiding my pain because I didn’t have the power to confront it. Burt encouraged me to gaze into my vulnerability, to accept it and use it as the foundation of my stability.I have learned a lot from many various teachers but when a student is ready then comes Burt.”~~ Savina, bestselling author and international master of Face Yoga ~~

“Wow, I really can’t thank you enough! You have helped me see clearly and also helped me through a very difficult period of my life. I now see that time is not as , negative but as a chance to awaken to whom I am. Without my suffering I would not be feeling this incredible peace and love in this incredible NOW that I had forgotten. Thanks again my dear friend. The life that we are is love.~~ Pelle ~~

“Dear Burt, two weeks ago you gave me your blessing for translating your videos to Polish YT. I feel it would be nice to send you a report:)Burt, people’s reaction is so amazing for your message and the way you speak about it! I felt your message from the first video I “saw” you, but I couldn’t predict this reaction:)After only two weeks, almost 1,300 people have viewed these only 11 translated videos. And it is still growing. Many people copy these videos to their channels, forums, share it, etc.You truly got to Polish-language Truth seekers (or Awareness got through You).People thank for your message and “want” more translations:)It makes me laugh, because you have 545 videos on the internet and probably one year would be too short for one person to translate them all:) maybe some will join.~~ Krzysztof ~~

“Dear Burt, please accept my deepest gratitude for the wonderful gift you gave me. You don’t know who I am, but about three weeks ago I cam across your Youtube videos and I started to pay attention to the message you were giving people about how to love is the greatest, most powerful force in the universe.”~~ Paul ~~

Saturday, January 15, 2011

I was wondering what does Awareness ' see ' or experience when the body drops (dies)? What happens to Awareness/ being when there is no more body? If the world is in us, then where does the world in us go... when the body dies? You always say, " You are always you." How does this continue when there is no more body?

First of all, remember that awareness is ALL there IS! Everything else is relative to it. For example, let's say I ask you, "What is the most important thing there is?" and you might say "it is peace or love or God or your religion or your children or fame or power, whatever you come up with, I will the ask you, "How can you enjoy your children or God or fame or anything if you are not aware of them?" Without awareness nothing exists.

Here's another example, "How do you know you exist?" and you might answer surprised at the question, "Of course I know, it is obvious" then I ask you "What is obvious about it?" and you'll probably answer, "because it is present always and I am aware of it!!" and that's it. 95% of the population are not aware that awareness is their true nature. Why? -- simply because it is so obvious that they miss it. They are asleep to it because they have taken it for granted without being aware that they are awareness itself.

You may doubt most things you hear, you may even doubt yourself but you cannot doubt awareness. The fact that you are reading this article proves you are aware of it. Even when we are not aware of anything such as relaxation at the beautiful sunny beach just listening to the waves of the ocean, yet awareness is always present. Awareness is the NOW itself and there is no EXIT to now!!

The fact that you 'think' is because you are aware of thoughts. The fact that you have emotions is because you are aware as they happen. The fact that you exist means that existence is awareness itself.

What is awareness?No one can ever define or describe awareness because it is the greatest mystery of all to the mind. Yet, the heart (core being)is awareness itself and it can recognize itself. When awareness recognizes itself that's called spiritual awakening. In this awakening we see that GOD exists as solid as you very awareness. Why? -- simply because GOD is awareness itself, awareness is the primal Oneness of all existence. It is without beginning or end.

Now let me ask you a question. You are aware and that's obvious. The question is this -- "Who is being aware?" The unaware person would say, "It's me!" referring to themselves but that's the mistake everyone makes. Awareness does not belong to anyone yet it is EVERYONE. You don't own awareness -- you are AWARENESS itself! Please read this again and again until you get it.

LISTEN -- YOU ARE AWARENESS ITSELF playing the part of the human role. In truth the 'me' is just a name given a body that keeps recycling every few years and thinks it is it. You see, the problem is that the human mind thinks and believes that she/he is the awareness inside the body. The body is located in time and space but AWARENESS is NOT locatable. Therefore, you. as awareness, is not the body -- the body is inside you. When you realize this fact, which eventually becomes obvious, then you will see that death is impossible. When the body of you drops away, you can look at it lying there in full awareness. There is no death except to the one who believe they are just a form. This is why Masters say that to believe you are a body is to be already dead.

All the great Masters such as Jesus, Buddha, Bhagavan and hundreds of others had only one teaching -- to teach us that LOVE is the only truth.

What is love?If we are physical then we think it is sex. If we are mental then we think it is communication and sharing. If you happen to be emotional then you think of love as emotional security and having someone special. If you happen to be spiritual then you see it as Oneness (the Unified Field principle all scientists know).

When you are contracted, depressed angry, frightened, insecure and so on then you are seeking awareness without knowing it. This seeking is saying "I am missing something" or if feels like you are lacking something or feels like "I don't feel good enough" and so on and on. There is nothing wrong in feeling angry, depressed unhappy etc but the problem is that you identify with it so much that you miss seeing the truth of it and so dysfunction or even insanity can set in.

Negative emotions are an indirect seeking of awareness known also as love or God (both are one). When people were searching for an answer to life they created a religion, a belief system in order to have something to believe in because they never suspected that their very awareness is what they were searching for. Their intelligence had not evolved far enough to understand something so simple that it escaped the mind. Jesus and Buddha never founded a religion, it was their followers that organized the different beliefs surrounding this one reat truth.

In order to reliaze this great truth, without which there can be no peace, requires innocence, simplicity and the devotion to sit still and LISTEN to your seekings and how every seeking whether it is... anger (not getting your way) or frustration (not able to figure it out) or depression (feeling overwhelmed by the conditioned mind) or totally unhappy (not knowing what yo want) etc etc it is all an unconscious seeking of Awareness. Remember that awareness is everything and has no opposite. It is therefore known as the Supreme Infinite Intelligence, known as Pure Being, often referred to as God, the Source and so on. When you see it as the NOW itself then this means that your human ego is not around to confuse you and therefore that's peace and joy. Do you see this?

You are always YOU! Why -- right now as you are reading this, if you are completely absorbed by it then where's your ego? If there is no ego (conditioned past) then that's the real YOU. YOU are all there is. You are everyone you meet. There are seven billion humans on this earth but there is only One YOU. You often mistake this "YOU" as being your human role but that's a conditioning. You are the Ultimate One. You are the One you want. You are the very love you seek. You are the infinite eternal Source itself. Your mind won't be able to take this and might end up confused but eventually, if you are serious, devoted to what is true and lasting, you wll discover it.

About Me

Worked as physical fitness teacher and physiotherapist until an experience with Bhagavan Ramana Maharshi transformed my life. In 2000 I fully realized I am a human being and everything became crystal clear and 'attained' peace of mind.